Is Heart Disease Research Giving to the Poor or the Rich?

I'm with you on this. I kind of like to see equality or as best as we can manage, without looking up any stats, the average life expectancy I think is somewhere near 70 in western countries and as low as 40 in third world countries. My personal feelings is I'd rather sort out their problems before sorting out some of our bigger health issues like heart disease. But as Braunwyn said earlier, "you do your bit and I'll do my bit".

You're getting a hard time, perhaps with the way you're phrasing yourself, but nothing wrong with raising awareness now and again, but of course keep in mind everyone will have their preferences.

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I will admit I have made a mistake. I assumed that heart disease is a disease of affluence. After further research, this seems less clear. According to the British Medical Journal, there is more heart disease in developing countries than developed countries.

'"Diseases of affluence," previously thought to affect only developed nations, are now becoming the leading killers in the developing world, according to a five year study-the global burden of disease-sponsored by the World Health Organisation and the World Bank.'

Source: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/314/7091/1365/d

I do not give my money randomly to anyone. I can give money randomly, e.g. I can roll a die to select where my money goes and the money may end up with a known criminal. We could construct a chain of cause an effect that establishes how this criminal's receiving the money can result in his doing something that is virtuous. I don't think most Christians would advocate giving money to just about anyone. When companies fund medical research within their own research department, they try to have some say into what research the scientists do so that the results can be most profitable for them. Pfizer may want to direct their funding toward drugs that lower cholesterol or reduce obesity. They could fund something completely different, e.g. something in the field of botany, and it may be that botanists researching whether certain plants can detect light may accidentally result in a discovery that enables them to find a way to reduce cholesterol very well and that turns out to be profitable for the company.

Funding for weapons research may uncover scientific knowledge that helps veterinarians treat animals. Does that mean I should give money to weapons research instead of animal rights groups?

Another point I want to make is other people telling me that I cannot tell other people what to do with their money. I cannot force other people to give their money to certain charities. This is illegal and also not Biblical because it would be a form of theft. But I do have the legal and Biblical right to persuade other people to support certain causes if the Bible supports these causes. Jesus said we are to help "the least of my brethren."

I am an economist who works for the government at the Treasury Department (just started), not a commercial bank or an investment bank. That said, I do have a Bachelor of Science and I have studied second-year genetics and microbiology, although I am not a practicing medical scientist.

To summarize, I may be wrong about heart disease being a disease of affluence. I still believe it is a good idea to look at where your money goes instead of just giving it to anyone and claiming the benefits will eventually trickle down to the poor. I also believe that as a Christian I should indeed tell other people how to live their lives. I tell children not to have sex before marriage, not to steal, and not to drink too much alcohol.

Good for you for taking the time to learn more about disease.
There's a difference between telling people what and where their monies should go and encouraging them to review worthy causes. As far as I could tell, you started this thread with a negative based on incorrect assumptions rather than a positive followed up by inquiry. You did use "?" but your incorrect assumptions were answers, however wrong, to your questions. This can put readers on the defensive, which will distract from your message imo.

Hmm, the treasury department. Is that the same as the IRS?

It's too bad then that your program didn't include community health and epidemiology courses. What was your major?

I think this is a smart position for anybody. To start, it's no secret that giving people can fall prey to charity scams, but it's also a good thing to be as well informed as possible about the causes we support and where we focuss our energy.

Adults that donate their time and money are not children and I don't believe they should be treated as such. As far as you believing you're in a position to tell christians what they should or shouldn't be doing in the way of giving, this thread highlights a potential 'the blind leading the blind' scenario. You were all too comfortable advising via misinformation and I don't understand how that doesn't give you reason to pause.

So. what? Honestly.. even if heart disease was worst among people in the US or Saudis or people with incomes over a million dollars a year where does Christ tell us that it is wrong to contribute to research that helps people who not in financial poverty?" We are commanded to love one another.. not just ove the poor.

Look at someone like Wangari Maathi- who is dedicated to sustainable development- her work on matters like soil erosion was work that explained the descent into deep poverty for thousands of Kenyans over a fairly short period of time. If we look at the green belt movements it is something that at the time we may have said "C'mon, she wants money to plant trees while people down the road are close to starvation?" and opted to give to some organization that wants to teach someone to fish... when so many of the worlds poor no darn well how to fish, what Maathi knew was that the resources that allow that knowledge to thrive had been eaten away by the very idea of higher and faster profits that destroy the land and destroy sustainable farming methods.

Most people don't give their money randomly. That's quite reasonable. Does the fact that food aid transports are sometimes the victim of pirates mean it's not acceptable to send food aid?

Again I don't think anyone advocates that either. But Christ does. He tells you to just give it away and not worry about your next meal. He doesn't tell us to investigate fully when someone asks for something. Does that mean we don't practice good stewardship? No... our faith is weak and entertaining angels is scary stuff.

Is profit bad? Drug companies aren't in it for the good of mankind - they're in it for the money. Be it wealth or merely enough to keep the research going they're looking for the cash to bank roll the next event.

Not unless you have some conviction that weapons research isn't already getting a big chunk of the budget pie and you have a belief that you are called to some sort of high tech weapons development ministry. It wasn't my impression anyone told you that you were wrong to decide where "your" money goes (it's not yours you know..)

You have the right to say pretty much whatever you want. You are wrong if you believe you are the one who knows for sure what God has called all Christians to do. Are you sure the "least" of Christ's brethren are only the financially poor? Who are the least in any community? Are the least those who are disabled, disfigured, those who have made mistakes or had the misfortune of being born to a neighborhood hooker?

Nobody suggested it's not a good idea to look at where your money goes. I give to an animal shelter, I know darn well I'm not giving in an attempt to help poor people anywhere. I give because it's a no kill (ever) shelter that spends 100% of it's intake on the animals. Does that mean the vets we pay a fortune to agreeably sponsor low and no cost spay/neuter clinics -- yup? Is that pet essential to that poor family.. maybe not.. but a pet goes a long way toward a mending a broken spirit.

I give to partners in health because I am humbled by Dr. Farmer and his dedication, and his work towards providing health to the poorest and most difficult to reach among us. His services in Haiti are his main mission, and his first mission is always to those who have no access to health care, but he teaches classes to some of our wealthiest students (although among them are the usual scholarship folks... who as Americans probably don't meet your standards for being in poverty)

I give to the community center here because I know they provide counseling and services to street kids and kids in foster care who have been abandoned by their parents. That most of those kids will never have to live in a garbage dump and dig for trash to get money for food doesn't make them anything more than the "least" where they live, rejected and at the mercy of others.

I give to an autoimmune disease research fund because it really hoovers to be the person on the street everyone else is huffing and puffing to get around because of the invisible agony of RA or to be the person who doesn't have dental coverage and is in 24 hour mouth pain because sjogren's syndrome has caused severe dental caries, and I pray that researchers will find ways to treat these diseases that help relief the pain.

Really, without sin? toss that first stone. Adults are not children, and some denominations believe ANY alcohol is a sin. Do you get to tell those who believe it's not enough not to drink too much that they should go ahead and have a beer now and then?

Share your opinion and understanding all you want, but just like doing a little more research into Heart disease reveals you didn't have all the facts remember doing a little more prayer may reveal things to you over time about what it means to be poor and to give it all up to follow Christ.

All your giving should be done in secret anyway.. so how can you tell someone else what is best when you aren't supposed to be sounding your trumpet about your own gifts.

I know for me my faith is weak. I cannot give rooms in my home to whomever asks first come first serve.. I have too much fear... my oldest step daughter, her father in law takes people in off the street, literally, they have lived in the same neighborhood for 60 years and it's not such a great area... and on any given day you can find half a dozen male prostitutes, wannabe pimps, pregnant throwaway teenagers, mentally ill folks who have forgotten how to keep up their meds... and and others sleeping in their 7 bedrooms. The rest of the family cringes and waits for one of these folks they take in to go off and kill them. Are they crazy? They are ... it's nuts, it's dangerous business.. are there no workhouses? Seriously though... their faith is humbling - I can't pretend to aspire to their standard, I can't get past my fears. .. it's so much safer to give to world vision, or the one campaign and get to feel good about helping the poor. (Yes vague sarcasm there, but it's directed at myself as well)

My gifts are nothing, but the house we're buying.. as our nest empties out has 6 bedrooms... we didn't go out looking for such a place... but every single house we looked at in our (very low) budget was either a 2 family with a total of 5 or 6 bedrooms, or a one family with between 5-7. I guess there's a reason, and perhaps the reason will be revealed. Right now I refer to those as the cats rooms. (It's so much safer to help cats)

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I don't see how any African-American with any inkling of history can say that you don't have the right to live your life how you want to live your life.

Branwyn and Wanderinong, you say everyone has a different idea of what is right or wrong and so nobody has the right to persuade people to believe in a different idea of what is right or wrong.

I used this argument on my friend. My friend told me that I should have shorter showers because long showers are bad for the environment. I replied by telling my friend that everyone has a different idea of what is right and wrong and he has no right to persuade me to accept his idea of what is right or wrong, and so he has no right to tell me how long my showers should be.

However, he responded by saying, "By telling me that I have no right to persuade you, aren't you persuading me to accept your notion of what is right or wrong?"

How can I counter this argument? How would you counter this argument?

I agree with Brawnwyn that science is very complex and we cannot say anything definitive about science. I suppose I have put too much faith into science. I know of a scientist who says that science cannot give us absolute truth. Often studies that say one thing contradict another study that say the opposite. I find this is often the case when I have tried to read medical journals and news articles to research whether certain foods are healthy or not. I find there is much contradictory information about whether coffee is healthy or not.